The Hungry Hodad

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Black Sand Beach

This is my cover of “Black Sand Beach”, an instrumental originally a released by the Ventures in 1967 on an album for the Japanese market entitled “Pops in Japan”. The song was composed by “Dan Kosaku”, whose real name was Yuzo Kayama — a Japanese popular musician, singer-songwriter and actor.

As a guitarist, he took inspiration from the  The Ventures, and performed  in the 1960s with using a Mosrite guitar.

The Ventures re-did the song in 1981 as the “B-side” to the single “Surfin’ and Spyin'” and called it “Showdown at Newport”.

Reef Break

This is my cover of “Reef Break”, originally recorded by the Atlantics, an Australian surf-rock group.

Bombora

This is my arrangement of “Bombora”, which was a major hit for the Australian surf-rock band, The Atlantics. By September 1963, “Bombora” had climbed the Australian charts to reach No 1. It was also released in Japan, Italy, Holland, England and New Zealand and in South America.

It was named after an Aboriginal term for large waves breaking over submerged rock shelves.

My version is not a cover of the original, but I definitely sought to replicate the driving energy of the original.

Hodad Chaser

“Hodad Chaser” is an original instrumental intended to be in the style of early 1960s guitar rock similar to the Ventures. However, it features two lead guitar parts instead of just one.

The Chase

This is my cover of “The Chase”, which was the “B-side” to a 1961 single called “The Stringer” by Bobby Fuller and the Fanatics. This is the same Bobby Fuller who formed the Bobby Fuller Four and had a big hit with “I Fought the Law”.

The Horny Hodad

“The Horny Hodad” is an original instrumental intended to be in an early-1960s surf-rock, Ventures style.

Hoppin’ Hodad

“Hoppin’ Hodad” is an original instrumental intended to be in a mid-1960s surf-rock, Ventures style.

The Homeless Hodad

“The Homeless Hodad” is an original instrumental intended to be in a mid-1960s surf-rock, Ventures style.

Haunted Hodads

“Haunted Hodads” is an original instrumental intended to be in a 1960s surf-rock, Ventures style.

 

When None Remain

“When None Remain” is an original instrumental intended to evoke the style of early 1960s surf-rock and the Ventures. It is a “slow dance” tune.

Hodad Hustle

“Hodad Hustle” is an original instrumental intended to be in a 1960s surf-rock/Ventures style.

The Lonely Surfer

“The Lonely Surfer” was a top-40 single and album title track in 1963 for Jack Nitzsche.  The Ventures waited until the 1990s to do an arrangement.

You may not have heard of Jack Nitzsche as a leader, but he had an enormous career in popular music.

He was a major contributor to Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound”, working as an arranger on some of Spector’s greatest productions. He played keyboards on numerous mid-1960s sessions by the Rolling Stones, and did choral arrangements for that group’s “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

He was involved with Neil Young recordings as producer, arranger, and keyboardist. He co-wrote the classic “Needles and Pins.” He arranged and produced for everyone from Tim Buckley, Lou Christie, the Walker Brothers, and Marianne Faithfull to the Monkees, Lesley Gore, the Neville Brothers, and Graham Parker.

And he was one of the most respected soundtrack composers of the late twentieth century, working on the scores to Performance, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Blue Collar, An Officer and a Gentleman, and The Crossing Guard.

Almost Sunrise

“Almost Sunrise” is an instrumental composed by Norman Petty, an organist and record producer who is best known for his association with Buddy Holly. Petty owned a recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico where Buddy Holly — and many other famous musicians such as Roy Orbison, Buddy Knox, and Waylon Jennings– made their records.

Due to his success with instrumental groups, Petty was a popular producer for bands of that genre and his Clovis Studio was one of the top “go-to” studios for the guitar instrumental sound in the early ’60s.

“Almost Sunrise” was a track on the Fireballs first album, also recorded in Clovis.

My arrangement is based on the Fireballs’ version.

I Venture Alone

“I Venture Alone” is another original instrumental composition in which I try to combine the feel of 60’s instrumental guitar rock with a somewhat more complex musical and harmonic language than was typical for that genre. With this one I tried to get a feel similar to an early 60’s slow dance in the style of surf rock and the Ventures.